“Find her!” I called out. “This ends here!”
Aside from the corpses, the streets were empty. But I knew she’d still be here. The smoke had only just started to rise. She could not have finished so quickly.
I came into the town square, and I saw what I had seen in so many towns already. Bodies piled in a great circle, all of them fleeing from the fountain in the center.
The woman had done this in each place we’d seen. She rounded up the whole town, gathering them together in a central meeting point. Then she’d asked the whole town a question. Each time she received no answer, or an answer she didn’t like, one of the townsfolk was brought out and gutted before the others. In each town, the questions had been the same. Where is Meridia? Where can I find the tower with no door? The same two questions, over and over again. Soon the townsfolk were begging her, screaming at her to let them go.
Eventually someone would talk. The few survivors we’d managed to question didn’t know if the talkers actually knew something or were simply making it up to avoid more death.
But if that was their goal, they failed.
As soon as she had two answers that were good enough for her, the woman ordered her soldiers to cut down the townsfolk. All of them. None were left alive. Once they realized what was happening, the poor fools tried to flee. They were chased down to every last man, woman and child. Not one of them made it out alive. The only three people we’d managed to speak to had been missed during the initial round-ups. Two were children that had been hidden in cupboards by their parents, and the third was a stableboy that had been cleaning a loft when the soldiers in black came to town. He’d hidden beneath the hay, hardly daring to breathe until the woman and her army had left.
But in the last town, something new had happened. One of the townsfolk had spoken up about Meridia almost immediately. It was an old woman, one of the town’s elders. She had heard a tale of a tower with no door. She’d heard the tale twice, in fact, and the two versions differed on where one could find the tower.
The woman I was pursuing had thanked the old woman politely. Then she had cut the townsfolk down, same as all the others.
She would not escape me this time. We were too close. She would fight, or she would die running.
“Colonel!”
The cry of warning almost came too late. I turned to see a black shape flying at me, and my eyes caught the glint of a blade. It hissed as it cut the air, aiming for my head. I ducked at the last second, and the blade glanced from my helmet as the figure flew over the back of my horse. It tucked and rolled in midair, landing on its feet and one hand clear on the other side of the column.
From all around us they emerged, figures wrapped all in black cloth, silent and deadly. The company ground to a halt as it formed up, my men facing outward to confront the attackers.
I spurred my horse, and it leapt forward at the one who had attacked me. I brought my sword down, aiming for the neck. But the figure twisted impossibly away, melting away from the blow like quicksilver and coming back around with its own sword ready. The blade of it sank into my horse’s hindquarters, and it screamed in pain as it went down. I managed to leap clear before my legs were crushed. I came to my feet ready to ward off another attack, but it came faster than I thought possible. I scarcely managed to ward off my attacker’s sword with my own. My counter swing was impossibly slow compared to the speed of the figure—man or woman, I couldn’t tell. Without any armor to slow it down, it simply leapt aside as my blade cut empty air. Then it stepped in close before I could right myself, and in a blur of pain I felt hands and feet smash my nose, crack against my knee, punch my throat. I reeled back, senseless for a moment.
Shunk.
A blade emerged from the figure’s chest. The figure stopped, its eyes wide in shock. For a moment it stared at the sword, now black with blood, before it fell to the ground and the blade slid free. Jak stood there, his face grim.
“Are you all right, Colonel?” he said. He reached out a hand and helped pull me to my feet.
There was a rush of air, and Jak’s hand fell to the ground, severed at the wrist. He stared at it dumbfounded for a moment before the blade returned to sink into his chest.
There she was. The hooded lady. Her cloak was dark, the cowl hanging low and hiding her face. In her hand was a long, slender blade that dripped with Jak’s blood.
“Greetings, Colonel,” she said. “Have you enjoyed our merry chase?”
“Witch!” I roared, surging to my feet. But if I’d thought the figure in black was fast, the hooded lady gave the word new definition. I could not keep her in my sight for more than a moment at a time as she dodged, weaved, appearing behind me again and again.
“Come now,” she said. “If I were a witch, would I really have wasted so much time killing these folk with my blade? I could have burned them with a thought.”
A wordless, senseless roar erupted from my throat, sending flecks of blood flying from my broken nose. I gripped my blade with both hands and swung as hard as I could for her middle. But she leapt straight up, and my sword merely nicked the bottom of her cloak as it fluttered away. Then she landed behind me, and I felt cold, cold steel slide through my belly.
“I do pity you, you know,” she whispered. Her voice was in my ear, soft and gentle as a lover’s. “To have come so far, and now this. It’s almost unbearably tragic.”
The blade withdrew. I coughed, and blood spattered the dirt at my feet. I remained standing, forcing my body to turn. The wound was mortal, I was sure. But I could still grip her throat and take her with me to the next life.
The lady evaded my clumsy grasp. Then she grasped my arm and struck my elbow with her other hand. I heard the snap of bone. Her fist struck my gut, and the pain of my wound doubled. I cried out. With a half-second’s spin she kicked me hard in the chest. My feet left the ground as I flew through the doorway of the building behind me. I coughed as smoke invaded my lungs.
She came to the door, looking in at me. “Good-bye, Colonel. Morrowdust will miss your service greatly.”
Then she turned and disappeared into the daylight. I lay there for an hour, hearing the screams of my men as her black-clad soldiers cut them down in the street. I could not move, could only lay there and wait to die. The walls of the house I was in began to creak, then to groan. Finally the roof collapsed on top of me, and at last my world went black.
I removed my hand from Pieter’s face, and the vision faded.
“What is it, Tess?” said Sarah. “What did you see?”
“It wasn’t Shadows,” I said softly. “It was soldiers dressed in black. They were led by a hooded lady in a dark cloak. They killed his whole company.”
“Wait, did you say a hooded lady?” said Blade.
“Yeah,” I said. “I couldn’t see her face.”
He looked away, his eyes troubled.
“Why did they do it?” said Cara. “What were they after?”
“They’re looking for someone,” I said. “Someone named Meridia. And a tower with no door.”
“A what now?” said Calvin. “Why would you have a tower with no door?”
Sarah looked at Cara and Barius. “Do you know this Meridia?”
Cara shrugged, and Barius shook his head. “I have known one or two women by that name, but no one of consequence. It could be anyone.”
I started to stand, but Pieter’s hand leapt up to clutch my own. I stared down at him. His eyes met mine, pleading.
Help me.
The words were in my mind without even trying. He was desperate. I established a connection again, briefly.
I don’t know how to help you, I said. We don’t have a healer.
No. Help me move on.
My stomach churned as I realized what he was asking. I looked up at Sarah, worried I might start crying again.
“He wants help,” I said. “Help to…you know.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “We can’t do that.”
“It would be
merciful,” said Cara. “He cannot survive, and he is in great pain.”
Yes. Pain. Please. Pieter’s thoughts were fast and urgent. I felt my eyes begin to sting, and it wasn’t from the smoke.
“I will do it,” said Nora in a quiet voice. She laid a hand on my shoulder. “My Lady, you and the others should go. There is no reason for you to stay. I will help him pass on.”
I nodded. “Okay. Wait, hold on.”
I pulled Pieter’s hand from mine gently, then placed my own hand on his forehead. His skin was hot, feverish. I reached for my power.
Sleep.
Pieter’s eyelids fluttered, and he went unconscious.
I got to my feet and walked slowly out of the house. The others followed—all but Nora and Barius. We stood in the square again, with nothing to look at but the bodies piled all around the fountain.
“How did you know who he was?” asked Miles. It sounded like he was just trying to avoid the silence.
“I read his mind back in Morrowdust once,” I said. “He was the first person I ever read. It was an accident.”
“That’s a heck of a coincidence,” said Blade. “Too many coincidences lately.”
“What do you mean?” said Sarah, looking at him curiously.
Blade shook his head. “I’m not sure, but when Tess said something about a hooded lady…there was someone like that in Terrence’s camp. You know, when I went in trying to kill him.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell us about that?” said Sarah, her voice taking on an edge.
Blade gave her a look. “I did. You probably forgot, because she didn’t seem important next to, you know, Terrence.”
“He’s right, Sarah,” said Miles. “I remember him mentioning her. But yeah, we were all too busy thinking about Terrence to pay much attention.”
Sarah sighed. “Okay, so who is she? What’s she looking for all the way out here?”
“This Meridia person,” I said. “Whoever that is.”
Nora and Barius came out of the house. In between them they carried Pieter. Their hands were steady and careful as they held him. They’d folded his arms across his chest.
“We should bury him,” said Sarah. “We should give them all a burial.”
“My Lady, it would take days,” said Cara. “Though I am reluctant to say it, we must be moving on.”
“Set him down,” said Sarah.
Nora and Barius laid Pieter carefully on the ground. Sarah lifted a hand, and the earth shifted beneath him. Pieter sank beneath the earth, the dirt moving back in to cover him. Soon only a tiny mound lay to mark his final resting place. Sarah gestured again, and the ground vibrated beneath my feet. All of the bodies shifted, shuddered, and then sank into the ground. Soon the square was empty except for a mass of mounds.
“There,” said Sarah with a long sigh. “Happy?”
“Far from it,” said Cara. “But that was well done, my Lady.”
“Should we…I don’t know…say something?” said Calvin. “I feel like somebody should say something.”
Nora stepped forward to stand at the foot of Pieter’s grave. She bowed her head and placed a hand over her heart. As one, the other Runegard did the same. I looked around at the others, and we all awkwardly followed suit. Nora began to speak softly, almost chanting.
Forth they stepped to shield our folk
Their shields were strong, their blades were sharp
Lives they gave to give us hope
To guard the light against the dark
Now they pass beyond our world
As we their comrades carry on
Waiting for us, banners furled
To meet again in next world’s dawn
Nora’s head raised. She looked at us timidly, looking a little uncomfortable. “It is a soldier’s prayer. I wish I had something for the townsfolk.”
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
It came from Miles. We all looked at him in surprise. He shrugged. “My family goes to church. I mean, I guess it works, right? Even though it’s a prayer from Earth.”
“It was perfect, Miles,” said Sarah. “Thank you.”
He ducked his head, a blush deepening his cheeks. “Yeah, well. I guess we can move on now.”
We went and found the horses, then led them around the town to the eastern side. None of us wanted to walk back through the town’s streets. Once we hit the other side, we noticed something odd. The ground before us was trampled as though by hundreds of feet. They were marching the same way we were, due east.
“What is that?” said Calvin. “I mean, is that the hooded lady or whatever?”
“Sure looks that way,” said Blade.
“It must be,” said Cara. “They are traveling the same road as we are. We should find a detour.”
“Why?” asked Sarah. “It gives us one advantage. As long as we’re following this trail, we know that we’re behind them and they’re not sneaking up on us.”
Cara thought about that for a moment, her lips pursed. She gave a slow nod. “I suppose that is a fair point. But we must be watchful upon the road. I would not want to come unawares upon a force that could lay such waste to a town.”
“One more thing,” said Raven. “What are we going to do about you guys? You don’t have horses.”
Cara looked at Sarah. “We saw a stable within the town that survived the fire. There are horses still inside. They are terrified and ill-fed, but they seem healthy otherwise. I do not think that anyone in the town would begrudge us their use.”
Sarah nodded. “No, I think you’re right. The only other option is to let them loose, and they’d be in danger wandering the wilds by themselves.”
We followed Cara to the stables and retrieved the horses. While they did that, Raven took Barius, Nora and me to find more food. We found an inn whose pantry was intact and loaded up all of the travel sacks.
Within an hour we were ready to go. On horseback once more, we rode on, traveling in the footsteps of those who had destroyed the town of Frith.
THE STATUE
TESS
THE ELEVATOR SHUDDERED AS IT reached my floor. It dipped suddenly, and my stomach lurched as it always did. The flickering halogen lights bathed my face in a harsh yellow glow as the metal doors creaked open. I stepped out and walked down the hallway to our apartment, fishing my key from my pocket. I unlocked the door and stepped in.
“Tessy!”
Kellyn and Nikki were wrestling in the living room. As one they untangled themselves and leapt up, running up to me and wrapping me in a hug. I laughed and pushed my hair back, bending over to encircle each of them in an arm.
“Hey, you two. Did you have a good day at school?”
“Yes!” said Kellyn. Her cheeks were flushed with exertion. “We had races in sports today, and I came in first!”
“I got an A on my math quiz yesterday,” said Nikki, brushing his long brown hair back from his eyes. He really had to get a haircut. I had to remember to talk to Mom about that. It was a tight month, but we could afford five bucks for a cheap haircut.
“That’s great, Nikki,” I said, ruffling his hair and sending it back into his eyes. “And well done, Kell. You know, I’ve got a friend who runs races. He might go to college for it. I should have him teach you some tricks.”
“Nah, that’s okay,” said Kellyn. “I like running, but I want to be a writer when I grow up.”
“You do?” I arched an eyebrow. “That’s great. Since when? I thought you wanted to be a lawyer.”
“I used to, but not any more,” said Kellyn, rolling her eyes. “I told you that last week.”
“Oh, right,” I said, feeling heat creep up into my face. “I must have missed it.”
“You’re always thinking or sleeping now,” said Nikki, giggling.
I smiled, realizing it looked weak. “Yeah. Okay guys, let me make you some dinner.
Go play.”
They ran back into the living room and resumed whatever argument had started the wrestling match. I stepped into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, gripping its edge hard with my fingers. I fought to get a grip on myself before I started crying.
You’re always thinking or sleeping. Is that what they thought of me now? Of course, how could I argue? When I came home these days, I usually went straight to bed so we could travel as far as possible in Midrealm. And when I wasn’t sleeping, I’m sure I seemed distracted. There was so much going on in Midrealm, and my life was in real danger there. Not like on Earth, where our biggest threat was being found online. That didn’t seem very likely on a planet of seven billion people, especially now that we had Anna watching our back.
I took a deep breath as I steadied myself. I yanked the cupboard open to find something to make for dinner. Two red and white cans looked down at me, mocking me.
Canned soup. Again. And we only had two cans left.
I sighed and pulled the cans down to the counter, reaching for the opener. Looked like I was going hungry again tonight. I’d tried to ration the food as best I could, but it wasn’t enough. We were out, and mom wouldn’t go shopping again until the day after tomorrow. I was going to have to figure something out for Nikki and Kellyn tomorrow night.
What if Anna could help?
The thought struck me like a hammer blow. Why couldn’t she help? She was some kind of crazy hacker, right? And didn’t the Association get most of its money secretly, leeching it off from places it would never be noticed? Why couldn’t Anna help us out a little bit?
I’d have to talk to her about it next chance I got. I had the secure phone now. I could call her if I needed to.
I heated up the soup in a saucepan, my thoughts now on Anna and Briggs. It had been ten days since we’d left Frith behind us in smoldering ruins. Anna had said we were supposed to have our dummy Medicorp facility by this point, but it still wasn’t ready. Sarah had been texting her every day, but Anna had simply said not yet. The others were impatient, but I found it easy to understand. After all, we were asking them to set up an entire fake medical facility, complete with staff and computers and all the rest of it. I couldn’t have put that together in a week. I couldn’t have done it with a month.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 36
